My first chapter of a book I am thinking about writing...

I had a person ask me if I had ever considered writing a book today. Yes, I've thought about it. I thought about going back and finishing a book I started in 6th grade about my very first crush...it was really more than a crush as I developed it in like 5th or 6th grade and it went well into high school. I still think about him and his family a lot and I still send them Christmas cards every year.

Anyway, I thought I'd be brave and let you all see my first chapter...give me your honest thoughts...should I continue? Would you read it?

.....Without further ado...here is my first chapter....

Jennica was just a young girl, but yet she had been through a lot in just 8 years. Her Mom had just passed away and her Dad was newly married. It was a hard time for her, but she muttled through. She desperately missed going to church and she begged to return to church. She always used to go with her parents and her Grandparents and now they just didn't go at all. After a lot of begging Sunday after Sunday, her stepmom took her to a non-denominational church. They attended there for awhile...she loved singing and going to Sunday school. She got to see her Dad remarry there and her step-mom became her Mom.

A short while later, a friend of Jennica's mother, introduced them to the Catholic faith. It was very traditional and the mass was said in Latin. We went a few times with them. It felt a bit weird as most of it was said in another language, but we continued to dive into learning all we could about the faith. Jennica had also developed a crush although she didn't say anything about it as the boy was an altar server and was a couple years younger than her. She just felt drawn to him and she loved to watch his family. He was the oldest and the only boy. All his siblings were girls and there were 4 of them. They would all come in in their pretty dresses and their silky long hair with their heads covered in veils and they were all so well-behaved. They also seemed to get along well and Jennica was a bit jealous since she always wanted siblings, but was an only child.

They started having catechism classes in the basement of the church after mass and we all started going downstairs to attend. It was a bit hard to understand for us kids sometimes as the classes used a lot of grown up words, but Jennica liked to go and be close to this boy. She got to learn things about Jesus and about faith that made her feel closer to God...yet she also got to learn little things about this boy and his family. It was there that she learned that this boy had a name...Trevor. We never talked to each other much, but I would often watch him and his sisters together and I would daydream about him at school and throughout the week since the only time I really ever got to see him was on Sundays.

Jennica couldn't keep it to herself much longer and she finally told her friend, Nicole, all about her crush and she swore her to secrecy that she wouldn't tell. She was pretty sure that she could trust her. Nicole started teasing her about it off and on and Jennica always reminded her that she wouldn't say anything. Jennica was shy and she didn't want something like that out in the open and she especially didn't want him to know.

A couple weeks later, Jennica went in to mass and she laid her missal on the table while she was hanging up her coat. She went and sat down with her parents and shortly before Mass was to begin, she realized that she didn't have her missal. She got up to see if she had left in on the table and when she couldn't find it, she didn't know what to do. Seeing that mass was about to begin, she realized she was going to have to look for it later...it was time to go sit down. She opened the door to go back to her seat and she immediately got butterflies...Trevor was standing by her parents talking to them. She was so shy, she didn't know what to do. She heard the bells chime for the start of Mass, so she knew she had to hurry to her seat. Her Mom grinned at her...Trevor had her missal. As he turned to give it to her, he gave her a nervous smile. She was scared to take it as her hands were sweaty from being so nervous. When she reached out to take it, she laughed a nervous laugh...his hands were sweaty too! She told him “thank you” and he said he needed to go as mass was about to start.

Nicole caught her eye and started laughing to herself. Jennica got nervous and told her to just be quiet and to remember that nobody was supposed to know. Jennica watched as the priest and the altar servers came in the church...Trevor was watching her and he smiled shyly at her. Her Mom nudged her and told her to sing. She sang for awhile and when Trevor walked by her to go up to the front of the church, she quieted. It was only after he passed her, that she started to sing again. All through mass, her eyes were on Trevor and she was shy about realizing that he was watching her some too. Although the minute that they would make eye contact with one another, they would both be quick to look somewhere else.

After mass, Jennica's Mom needed some help carrying stuff out to their van. She asked Trevor to help me. As we walked outside together Jennica kept wondering if her Mom knew, but she wasn't going to risk it by saying anything. Trevor and her walked outside together and he helped her set their stuff inside. Nicole saw them and started to tease her again although she was careful at first not to give too much away. Nicole asked her then, “Did you finally tell him, Jenn?” Trevor turned to look at Jennica. “Did you finally tell me what?” Jennica blushed and ran inside...she was too shy to say anything and she was beginning to be sorry that she ever told Nicole. She looked for her Mom and found her on the far side of the church talking to someone. She went over to ask when they were leaving. Her Mom told her that she had a couple things to talk to some people about and they'd leave soon. She knew her Mom was a definite talker, so she knew it was going to be awhile. She saw Nicole's sister, Anna, and headed over to talk with her, but on the way over there she heard Trevor's cousin come in saying her name. He looked at her and said “you like, Trevor, huh?” She was so horrified that people knew she ran out into the hallway to go outside to the car. She saw Nicole on the way out and she started to cry and say “how could you? You weren't supposed to tell anyone!” Nicole giggled and said that she really didn't think it was such a big deal. She ran past Trevor's sisters and as she opened the door Trevor was standing on the other side. She muttered “bye” and ran to the van. At least she had a week to get over being embarrassed and she wouldn't have to see anyone from church until next week. She would have to see Nicole, but she'd deal with her on Monday....